


Obscurity

by O_R



Series: Clarity [2]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Apologies, Developing Friendships, Mentioned!AnxietyIssues, Mentioned!Bullying, Post-Squip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-18 01:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14202345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/O_R/pseuds/O_R
Summary: Interactions between Michael and everyone else following the events of the play.Prelude of Short Stories preceding the events of Clarity,though not all of them may be canon to that story so this could be read with no prior knowledge about Clarity.





	Obscurity

**Author's Note:**

> “Ask your buddy. Anti-social headphones kid? He’s been by like, a ton, by the way.”  
> O_R  
> How Michael and Rich realistically become bestf riends post-Squip.

Michael arrived at the hospital a day after the play with his headphones on and his hood placed firmly on his head. His hands were stuffed in his pocket when he anxiously asked the nurse which room Jeremy Heere was currently taking residence in. She looked at him suspiciously but gave the directions nonetheless. Upon resting his hand on the door handle, he hesitated before taking a deep breath and finally opening the door. 

Michael expected a couple things to happen when he did so. One being that Jeremy would have still been asleep considering how Mr.Heere informed him that he was still most likely resting from the whole ordeal. Second being that there were other patients in the room since it was more expensive for them to have their own and third being that the other patient was Rich Goranski. Actually backtrack that a bit. No, Michael was not informed that the guy who basically tormented the both of them since sophomore year and convinced Jeremy to take a pyschotic wintergreen tic-tac was sharing a room with his best friend. So excuse him when he may or may not have let out a not so masculine scream when he turned to see Rich awake staring straight back at him intensely the moment he walked into the room. 

No. Michael would deny any such claims Rich would make later on. 

“Uh… Mitchell?...Right?” Rich called out curiously. 

Michael was quick to compose himself trying to regain some amount of dignity back. He cleared his throat before looking at Rich a bit more critically seeing as the latter was completely immobile in his full body cast. 

“Are you really just going to stand there and stare? Cause that’s kinda creepy bro.” Rich raised an eyebrow. 

Annoyance etched it's way into Michael’s features as he chose to ignore Rich in favor of the chair that was beside Jeremy bed. He sat himself down facing away from Rich and instead paid attention to the steady rise and fall of his friend’s chest. 

“Look I just wanted to know what happened to the Squip. I‘m sure Jeremy told you about it but I want to know how it suddenly shut off. I‘m glad don’t get me wrong but it hurt like a motherfucker.”

There wasn’t any music playing in his headphones so he could hear Rich’s questions wide and clear but he chose to respond with silence. Was it a bit petty? Perhaps. But after everything that happened, Michael deserved to hold a bit of a grudge against the guy. When Rich finally realized Michael wasn’t going to talk, he resorted to aimlessly flipping the channel on the television in the room.

It became a routine when Michael would go visit Jeremy everyday after school. Michael would come in and sit on the chair as Rich would futilely talk at him and fail to get a response. It was on the seventh day, however, when Michael cracked after hearing something particularly strange for Rich to say. 

It was more of a mumble if anything else but Michael remembered it distinctly, “Can you at least tell me what they’re saying about me at school?” the question itself wasn’t strange but the lisp that came with it was far to similar for Michael to dismiss. He turned around to see Rich staring right back like a deer in the headlights before the instantly turned to a spot on the opposite wall that he somehow found more interesting. He shrank in on himself before letting out a bitter laugh. 

“So you  _ were _ listening the whole time, huh?”he grimly smiled, “for what it’s worth, he’s pretty lucky to have someone looking out for him,” he nodded towards Jeremy who was sleeping soundly, “I‘m sorry to have gotten in the way of that.”

Michael couldn't help but feel sympathetic after looking at Rich’s lost expression. Out of all the times he’s visited so far, Michael noticed that no one had showed up to see Rich. 

“Rich...”he started. 

“No. I‘m going to stop you right there. I don’t need your pity. I mean, everyone probably thinks I blew a fuse or something considering that I burned Jake’s house down so I shouldn’t have really expected anyone to visit anyway,” he let out a sigh, “No one probably even cares about happened to me. They never do.” He mumbled out the last part. 

Michael turned back to look at Jeremy with a thoughtful expression on his face. His knee bounced up and down nervously. He needed to think about his next words carefully. He had three options. Stay silent and allow Rich to continue to wallowing in his own self-pity. Lash out and confirm everything Rich just said about what everyone thinks of him. Or...comfort the ass who had enough confidence for a person twice his size. He grit his teeth briefly because of how enticing the second option seemed and if Michael were honest, yes, it would seem unfair even for someone like Rich. 

Nonetheless, a lot of... _ things _ happened following the events past the visit to Menlo Park Mall. More than Michael would ever allow Jeremy to know about no matter how much it kept him from getting up in the morning. No. He would fix his own problems on his own. His left hand began to tremble as Michael digged himself deeper into his anxieties so much so that he was brought back by the very person who seemed to cause them.

“Dude?” Rich called calmly. “You alright? You’re shaking.”

Michael seemed to straighten his posture after the brief surprise he felt after forgetting that someone else was in the room with him. He cleared his throat and stuffed his hand into his hoodie. He had the sudden urge to leave without a word but turning around he hated the fact that he noticed how vulnerable Rich seemed in his body cast and stopped in his tracks. Taking a deep breath, he cursed himself knowing that even Rich deserved some reassurance. Nervously taking his hood off while setting his headphones on his shoulders, he took a step, a small one, towards Rich who looked at him curiously, though Rich seemed to pay more attention to the patches on Michael’s hoodie than anything. Michael looked off to his left avoiding Rich’s eyes and took another breath. After what seemed like forever, Michael slowly but surely looked towards Rich. 

“Richard Goranski?” Michael said gently, “You mean the dork who was obsessed with Kermit the frog memes and playing Call of Duty on Xbox. Yeah. Always wondered what happened to him,” there was a slight fondness it his voice. 

His statement caused Rich to snap his head towards Michael so violently he nearly caught a whiplash. 

“It was to my surprise one day that he showed up to school with completely new clothes and lack of a lisp he never seemed to outgrow...I could barely even recognize the guy” Michael turned to see Rich’s indistinguishable expression,”He kind of turned into an ass though.”

Rich looked at him like he had two heads while Michael only regarded him with a gentle smile. 

“You...” Rich suddenly couldn’t find any words to say.

“Me?” Michael questioned. He couldn't make out the whole statement as rich mumbled the last part.

Rich only continued to stare at him before he suddenly burst out in laughter, “Well, don’t act surprised if that same loser still has a whole archive of those memes stored in his phone.”

Michael dramatically gasped a ‘no’ placing a hand on his chest before he began to laugh himself. It felt great to laugh genuinely like that. After everything that happened, it was a nice change of pace. 

Rich, himself, secretly let out a breath of relief as Michael was still laughing.

A nurse came into the room telling Michael that visiting hours were over but just as he was walking through the door, he turned back to Rich one more time. 

“See you later. Rich.” He gave a shy wave before exiting through the door. 

Rich nodded considering that was basically the only thing he could do in his current state. 

**Author's Note:**

> There is an epilogue, though it is short. I don't quite know if I'll post it cause yes, I am working on chapter thirteen of Clarity and yes it will be out sometime this week, who knows when exactly. I'll be sure to write about why I had taken a break so suddenly in more detail when that chapter comes out but the basic reason was for college applications and midterms so yeah.
> 
> If this story seems familiar, it's because I posted it awhile back but immediately took it down because I wasn't really satisfied with it. Not sure if that has really changed but well I wanted to post something saying that I was alive after this much time and this story was basically done.
> 
> And thank you for any comments, kudos or bookmarks and of course being all your lovely selves. :3
> 
> Also, if you do struggle with anything be it school or yourself, please seek help. Not all of us are fictional characters who seem to be able to bounce back like a lovable marshmellow and there are far more people who care about you than you might think.  
> Suicide Prevention Hotline:1-800-273-8255


End file.
